Gov't seeks to recognize animals as 'living beings,' not 'objects'
Pet owners attend a pet fair at SETEC in Gangnam District, Seoul, Friday. YonhapLaw revision expected to enhance awareness of animal rightsBy Lee Hyo-jin For a country with around 1.5 million pet owners, Korea's legal framework for animal protection has been considered relatively weak, leading to low public awareness on animal welfare, and lenient punishment for animal cruelty. A major reason for this, pointed out by many animal rights activists, is because the civil code defines animals as “objects,” not living beings. Under the current law, animals are regarded as the property of their human owners, something that can be owned, traded and controlled without any of the basic rights that are given to people.Therefore, animal abusers often face relatively weak punishment proportional to their level of cruelty, as their sentences are based on the Property Damage Law and Animal Protection Law. But this may change, as the Ministry of Justice announced plans recently to amend the civil code to legally recognize animals as living entities. In response to an increasing number of
Mar 16, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin